Oppo Beats Huawei, Apple To Top China's Smartphone Market For The First Time

Fast-rising Chinese smartphone maker Oppo topped China’s smartphone market for the first time last month, according to a report by research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Oppo surpassed Huawei,
Apple and Xiaomi with a record 22.9% market share in June, as its sales volume jumped 337% annually for the month.

Oppo’s market share of smartphone sales in China grew 16.8% year-on-year in June, according to the research firm, overtaking Huawei's top spot as its market share shrunk 3.4% yoy to 17.4%.

(Photo credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Oppo’s rise is due to its offline market, which contributes more than 70% of total sales in China, explained Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint, adding that aggressive marketing, greater offline retail penetration beyond tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and “head-turning, innovative smartphone designs” has helped the startup drive sales in the last 18 months.

“Oppo’s immense focus on industrial design and key features, such as camera, battery technology and materials, has helped Oppo maintain an edge over its rivals and win consumer mindshare – especially in the under 25 years age group,” said Shah, adding that Oppo’s R9 model was the best-selling model in June.

Oppo is owned by BBK Electronics, which also owns Vivo, China’s third-largest smartphone maker in June. Vivo held a 12% market share in China last month, a 4.7% yoy growth, and with Apple, Xiaomi and Samsung all shrinking yoy, 4.2%, 8.3% and 2.7%, respectively, BBK’s Oppo and Vivo are the only major smartphone makers in China to grow last month since a year earlier.

“Oppo and Vivo’s growth story has been impressive and it is important to note that the brands which have entered the top three spots in Chinese smartphone market have tendency to hold on to the spots for at least for some period of time,” said research director Peter Richardson.

(Photo credit: Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg)

Richardson adds that while Huawei boasts an innovative portfolio and rising brand power, and Apple with its unparalleled brand equity and ecosystem advantage, Oppo and Vivo have product and sales channel momentum. “[T]he real work is cut out here for Xiaomi to not fall off the cliff considering its over-dependence on [the] China market.”

With Oppo and Vivo rising a combined 21.5% in June yoy, and Apple and Samsung shrinking a combined 6.9%, Chinese brands now control more than 84% of the smartphone market in the country, according to Counterpoint.

The demand for smartphones in China grew 17% annually in June, said the report, the best-ever June in terms of sell-through for smartphones.